Echoing the Joyful News

3rd Sunday of Advent Dec. 13, 2009 (Lk 3:10-18)

The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?"

He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."

Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?"

He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.

John the Baptist instructed the people on how they should live their lives. His message was simple - being faithful to one's duties and treating one's neighbors well, being just, to put it simply. But despite the simplicity of this message, apparently there was a great need to preach it. People were forgetting to live good lives that the basic moral teaching of doing good and avoiding evil had to be reiterated. John's preaching made the people realize the coming of something new, a radical change of the corrupt spiritual situation in which they have found themselves. The Messiah is coming!

John confirmed this news, that, indeed, the Messiah was about to come. But He was not the Messiah. He was only a herald. John was only sharing the joyful news that the Lord is present among His people. But, aside from that, he was exhorting the people to be part of this good news, to be the good news to others by treating others well. By this, we make God present, not only among His people, but also through His people who live godly lives.

The readings for today invite us to rejoice because the Lord is near and He is coming to save us. We are further invited to emanate this joy, to show our neighbors, through our kindness and love, that God reigns and that God has come to save them too.

As Christmas draws near, the joy we feel also increases. May we not forget that our joy ought to come from the longing for Christ, not from the many distracting outer joys that festivities bring. Also, may we not forget to pass the joy and love that we have received from the Lord to those whose misfortune prevent them from rejoicing this season.

As we receive the good news of God's great love symbolized by the helpless baby on His crib, may we pass the joy and the love this news brings. May we be the good news to those who have not heard or who refuse to hear God's "I love you!"

Believing and Living the Story

Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection April 12, 2009 (Jn 20:1-9)

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him."

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

The Lord is truly risen, Alleluia! Today, the Church celebrates the greatest of all feasts, the feast of the Lord's triumph over sin and death, the Solemnity of Easter. Indeed, the importance of this great feast in our faith is so great that its celebration is extended for eight days until next Sunday, the Octave of Easter. It is further extended for seven weeks, the seventh Sunday being Pentecost Sunday, making the Easter celebration a season, the Easter Season.

The resurrection of Christ is the central point of our faith. It gave peace and hope to the apostles who where then very afraid and despairing. Had Christ not risen from the dead, our faith is in vain and death would have triumphed over love. But, as it was, God proved His love to be more powerful than death, indeed, tougher than nails!

The Gospel for Easter Sunday narrates to us how Mary of Magdala was surprised at seeing the first symbol of the resurrection, the empty tomb. Thinking that the body of her Lord was taken away, she ran to tell Peter and John (the beloved disciple) what she saw. John, the first apostle to arrive at the tomb, was also the first to believe. He believed upon seeing only the empty tomb and the burial cloths. He believed even if he did not understand perfectly. We too, as Christians, believe in the resurrection.

But more than being a major tenet of Christianity, the resurrection of Christ is also a challenge. Indeed, it is true that we who believe in Him will also be resurrected. But for us to experience resurrection, we must also suffer like Him. We need to strive for holiness amidst a world of sin, even if it means being persecuted for it. That is precisely what Jesus did and is calling us to do. He was hated by the world (Jn 15:18) because He did not conform to worldly ideals. But He showed the world that He was right through His resurrection.

If we follow Christ, the world will also persecute us as it persecuted Him (Jn 15:20). We too will have to suffer much if we choose to be holy. But we should not lose hope, because we know how this story would end - in our own resurrection.

The Gospel presents to us the symbol of the empty tomb. This tomb is empty because the "deadly things" have been destroyed by Christ's redemptive act. Christ is no longer in the tomb, because death cannot hold Him. Death will not be able to hold us too if we do not take pleasure in the "deadly things" - and what is "deadly" but sin?

Yes, Christ is risen and we believe it! We rejoice in the Lord's day! But more than just believing in the resurrection, as the beloved disciple did, we are challenged this Easter Season to live the resurrection story, to die to our sinful selves, to empty our tombs, to endure sufferings brought about by our striving for holiness, so that we may resurrect like our risen Lord.

Happy Easter to all! Alleluia! Alleluia!